Why Kids Don't Play With Slot Cars

[arroldn]

Picked a child from our Angel Tree at Church. The young man says he wants a race track. Now while he didn't say slot car track you know where my mind went. So today I went to Walmart and Target. The paper said since ToysRUs went out of business these retailers would increase their toy sections. Not a slot car set anywhere in sight. I ask the stock man at Target, "Do you have any slot car sets?" What is that he ask. Plenty of Hot Wheels cars and a few sets. Went to Target.com when I got home. DMX set and Carrera Go On the Run Race set. So went to Walmart.com DMX, Carrera First Disney Pixar, Scalextric Cops and Robbers and Arc One Race set. There was also some Artin 1/43 sets but they both had loops in them. Hot Wheels tracks also with loops.

Now the young man may not mind loops but I have yet to see a race track with loops. So why are kids today not into to slot cars? Probably because they have never seen one. This summer I took my track to our cousins house who had a group of kids there in a summer program. They loved it. Many of them ask how do I get one?

So if the sets are not in the stores, there is zero advertising how do the manufacturers expect to sell them?

Think I'll go with a Carrera Go GT Contest Set.

Just a thought :think:
Arrold

[HomeRacingWorld]

How many G, HO or N scale model train sets did you see at Target/Walmart? Try Zero. At least mine DOES have the Hot Wheels 1/43rd set.

Model kits? Have not seen any in any of the above for several years. Maybe a handful at this time of year about 2 or three years ago.

Or...how about finding a copy of Model Car Racing Mag on the shelf? No such luck. Have only EVER seen it at my "local" Barnes and Noble 2 hours away.

Hey, does your Wal-Mart carry Team Associated or LOSI competition RC cars? How about Dungeons and Dragons? Electric Football?

Bass Pro featured SCX and Carrera sets during the Season here. HUGE displays.

Don't blame the slot car manufacturers. Talk to your big box stores. It's up to them what they buy and what goes on display.

And in case you have not heard...ONLINE shopping is all the rage these days. Through search engines and advertisements, our slot car marketing folks do everything they can to get the word out. And I know quite a few people that shop this time of year exclusively online.

Loops? Talk to Mattel. Can you find a Hot Wheels set like we had back in the day with just a purple clamp for the chair and a finish line? No. It's all Sharks, Jumps, etc, etc.

Our Hobby Lobby has both 1/43 and HO Auto World sets and cars. Oh..and those train sets too.

So does my local hobby shop, MARK TWAIN, that I personally buy from...and the ones found ONLINE that are our sponsors here.

[arroldn]

Went to Hobby Lobby as well. 1 AutoWorld set. 1 Carrera Set 2 DMX sets. I think the Carrera was the Go_Kart set. All HO or 1/43. No extra cars but a few Carrera track pieces. 1 HO train set.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Least they were there? Our new HL has more folks in the aisles than the Walmart. So plenty are seeing it. I could barely get into the HL aisle to grab paint.

We have a smaller niche hobby. Has been for many moons. Like other ones, you sometimes have to go to more focused shops to see them.

[Modlerbob]

Even the local brick and mortar hobby shops like Hobby Town only carry a minimum of slot car sets. They do carry HO and N scale trains and accessories but mostly RC hobbies heavy on the drones.

[arroldn]

When I got back into the hobby I had to order my Scalextric set online. Made that decision after reading many a thread on this Forum and SCI.

[mikeinclover]

I have had a couple groups of kids in the store today and all were having a great time. On the way out two of the boys were asking if they could come back. I don't have any of our track sets on line but we do carry them.
Mike

[slothead]

I agree with all of the above - slot cars are a hidden hobby most people never knew about or don't think still exists. There's almost no visibility in the mainstream media or market place. While I do think some kids, and people in general, would be drawn in if exposed to slot cars, it's also a reality that overall interest in cars and racing has declined.

When I was in elementary school and beyond it was common for many guys to talk about cars all the time. The Ford-Chevy-Mopar debate was ongoing. I don't think most young people today could tell one car from another or care to. When kids aren't interested in cars it's unlikely they'll be interested in racing beyond watching a crash or pileup. With video games you can crash, then resume the race and still win - no running around the track to put your car back on or have to fix anything.

An economic analyst on TV said a major reason GM is closing plants is because of changes in demand. Interest in car ownership is decreasing. What a person drives or rides in doesn't matter like it used to. While there are still plenty of car and racing enthusiasts around we tend to be older and our numbers are declining.

[WB2]

A lot of the video game era kids have a hard time with slot cars. They’re used to mashing buttons down and have no concept of letting off or slowing down.

Some years back Target sold SCX Compact sets, track, and cars. I imagine sales were lackluster.
At least the SCX stuff performed out of the box. Auto World seems to have a QC issue that doesn’t endear them to the average person.
I’ve seen Carrera Go! and 1/32 sets at Barnes and Noble in the “toy section”.
As a kid, I remember going to the Sears store and seeing train sets and slot car tracks set up for kids to try. The only time I’ve seen that lately was a few years back when Bass Pro had a Carrera set up. Not one, but two sets put together for a large track. Kids and adults both spent time running cars.
The Franz Carl Weber toy store chain in Switzerland stocks an unbelievable amount of Carrera slot car items: sets, cars, and track in 1/43, 1/32, and 1/24. They also have trains, buildings, and scenery items.

Harry - how far away is Mark Twain? Seems a bit distant to be considered a LHS. A great shop with great service, by the way. But the local hobby shops seem to have gone by the wayside, so families can’t wander by.

I was impressed with two vendors at the STL Hot Wheels and Slot Car Show.
I heard a father tell his daughter to “give the man your money”. A little girl sheepishly held her dollar bill out to pay for a Hot Wheels car in her other hand. The vendor told her to keep her money and the car.
Similar thing happened when a vendor gave a little boy a T-Jet car. The boy headed straight to the HO track to run his new possession.

To sum up my rambling, there are a myriad of reasons why kids don’t play with slot cars.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Mark Twain is actually about a 2 hour drive. But my daughter and family live in Wentzville. 18 miles from the front door. So given we visit up there often now, I drop in and quite a bit and jokingly refer to them as my local.

[oldtribefan]

Our Hobbytown here in Kennesaw. GA stocks a lot of Carrera and Scalextrix: sets, track and cars. in 1/32 and 1/43. They have a small demo Carrera Digital track set up. Also carry a couple of lines of HO car sets and AFX cars.

[arroldn]

There was once a Hobbytown in Franklin TN. When I worked in that area I would go there. He carried Scalextric and Fly cars. It closed soon before I was reassigned back to Nashville. So this must have been around 2008 or 2009. There was a Hobbytown also in Mufreesboro. He was a part of the Murfreesbore slot group that I raced with. He too has since gone out of business. The closest Hobbytown is now in Bowling Green Ky 58 miles up I65. There is one toy store still in Nashville celebrating its 72nd year. The mostly have trains. I think I saw Carrera back a few years ago. May go by there and check it out.

[slothead]

Another quick point - while it's great that some hobby stores carry slot cars merchandise, it's even more important that we are buying it. Even though I know an item could probably be purchased cheaper online I ALWAYS buy something when I'm in an actual hobby shop. And I tell the guy behind the counter that as long as they carry slot car stuff I'll buy something every time I'm there. It's usually a car plus parts, and a few other things that catch my eye like Model Car Racing magazine.

When I'm in the area and visit Modelville Hobbies in Ashland, MA the owner knows he's about to make a $50 - $100 sale. It's nice to have that place as a reliable resource, and to see smiles when I walk in the door.

[Czar]

It is not the lack of car sets that is keeping kids away from slots. Virtually every kid in America would rather order from an online retailer than go into a brick and mortar store. That is one big reason Toys R Us is gone. Kids/parents can get slot car sets if they want. The problem is that it is an old fashioned toy. It's a toy that older people enjoy, therefore it is not a toy that is aimed at young people and it is not on their radar. How old is the youngest person you regularly race against? My grandchildren (boy and girl, now 16 and 14 respectively) have lived with me for the past ten years. They have their own slot cars, and they sit in the cabinet , tires rotting. When they were much younger they played a little bit, but now, they don't look at the cars or track. When their friends come over for the first time they are a little curious about the slot stuff, but it only takes a few minutes and they are back to the computer, or the dirt bikes.

[williamg]